Face-to-face meetings matter in all professions, says the Meetings Mean Business Coalition. To spread that message, MMBC has launched a series of short videos with high-level executives from across the business spectrum talking about why meetings are important to their industries.

“The goal is to show support from the C-suite level of face-to-face meetings and how they fit into a larger picture,” said Michael Dominguez, cochair of the coalition and senior vice president and chief sales officer at MGM Resorts International.

The videos aim to highlight how conferences and other meetings build trust, foster engagement, and generate new business. The coalition, whose members include ASAE and others in the meetings and events industry, relaunched in 2014 to show how meetings benefit businesses, communities, and entire economies.

The executives who appear in the videos come from outside the coalition to provide unique perspectives on why meetings are important—“to have business leaders tell you how it grows their business,” Dominguez said. The message has heft when it comes “from the people who are responsible for the ultimate success of their organizations,” he added.

The first three videos in the series feature executives from a trade association, a nonprofit, and a corporation:

Mike Gallagher, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, talks about tradeshows as the place where “the newest innovations in consumer technology are debuted to world” and where all the leaders in his industry come together under one roof.

Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of American Public Television, explains how conferences build trust and relationships—and how important those are in doing business.

James Curleigh, president of Levi’s Brand, describes how meetings help create the momentum and engagement organizations need.

Because video is king on the internet, the coalition opted to use short video snippets rather than some other format. “Video works if you want your message to stick and you want people to be engaged,” especially from a social media perspective, Dominguez said.

The videos capture the executives in interview-style conversations. The coalition wanted to avoid overscripting the videos, instead allowing the conversation to flow freely, which made the executives’ comments authentic, Dominguez said: “The golden nuggets have been just them talking.”

The coalition plans to release about a dozen videos this year, delivering them through social media, in print through industry trade publications, and through other channels to a broad business community.

Underscoring the importance of face-to-face meetings is important because when executives have to cut expenses, they often end up cutting meetings, travel, and training, Dominguez said. But the MMBC videos can help remind them that “there’s a larger purpose of bringing everyone together.”